


Independence Day

by Ceala (DecemberWine)



Category: Queer as Folk (US)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-01
Updated: 2011-02-01
Packaged: 2017-10-15 06:53:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/158199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DecemberWine/pseuds/Ceala
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Michael finally declares his independence from Debbie's constant meddling!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Independence Day

In the years that followed, Michael often thought of a TV interview he’d seen. Some reporter was talking to a survivor of one of the massive hurricane/tornado’s that had hit Texas/Florida/New Orleans. The survivor said that just before the storm hit, there was an eerie silence and the air had become thick and hard to breathe. Then they had felt something in the air that made the hair on their arms stand up and then the storm had slammed into them.

Michael thought that was a tad dramatic but after surviving his own natural disaster, he knew just how they felt. Michael’s storm hit one quiet Thursday afternoon. He was enjoying a rare lull at his store. Two hours earlier and the lunch crowd would have filled the place. Two hours later and the after school kids would be crowding the aisles and lounging on the sofa’s looking at their favorites and trying to decide which one to buy first.

Now normally, a smart business man and believe me Michael was a smart business man, would be dreading a lull in business but Michael enjoyed the opportunity to catch his breath and just think about what had been happening in his life. When he looked back on the last few years, well the last seven to be exact, he was amazed that he’d even survived to tell the tale. God he was such an innocent.

************* FLASHBACK ******************

He’d thought if he ever had a child, he would be the best father in the whole world. He would always be there for the important things and the not so important but loving moments. Maybe if the mother of his child had been anyone other than Melanie Marcus that could have been a possibility but instead, his time with his daughter had been a battle almost from the beginning. When he agreed to become a sperm donor for Lindsay and Melanie’s second child, he was thinking of the same loving environment that had been waiting for their first child; a beautiful son named Gus sired by Michael’s best friend Brian Kinney. Instead, the two were in the middle of a bitter break-up caused by Lindsay’s one night stand with an artist she’d been working with. Maybe it wouldn’t have been quite so bitter if the artist hadn’t been a man. Michael knew from firsthand experience how nasty Melanie could get when she was crossed and he didn’t want his baby girl to be raised by two feuding parents when he and Ben could provide a warm, loving, stable home.

The ensuing custody battle had turned into a three-way spectacle worthy of the ancient Roman bloodbaths. Everyone had lost, most of all Jenny Rebecca, as the adults in her life battled over her like she was a choice piece of meat and they all wanted a bite. Michael still felt almost bowed down by grief when he thought of those times; not just because of the battle over Jenny but also because it caused a rift between him and two of the most important people in his life. His mother had openly sided with Melanie against Michael claiming that a single mother could raise a kid just as good as two parents anytime; after all, she was a single mother and look how well she’d done. But the betrayal that hurt Michael to the bone had been that of his best friend Brian; the one person in the world Michael would have bet he could count on for support. Brian had provided Lindsay with the money to hire a vicious cut-throat lawyer and in the end Michael had been portrayed in open court as a pervert who took drugs, wrote porn and generally wasn’t fit to be a part of his daughter’s life. Thank God, the judge didn’t take all that as gospel and awarded a three way split which meant Jenny was handed around from Melanie to Michael to Lindsay and back again. Michael never understood how his friend and his mother could have hurt him like that and he never forgave either one.

The whole mess straightened itself out when Lindsay dropped out of the dog-fight saying no one was thinking about the needs of Jenny and she couldn’t be a party to it any longer. Michael grudgingly agreed that a baby as young as Jenny needed to be with her mother and he backed away also only to have his daughter taken away from him again.

When the dance club Babylon was blown up, it set off a cascade of corresponding explosions that just kept going. Melanie and Lindsay got back together but decided they didn’t want to raise their kids in a country that considered them inferior so they took the babies and moved to Canada. Now Michael only got to see his little girl when he could get away for a few days and fly to Canada. Michael had been seriously injured in the blast and spent many painful weeks recovering from his injuries. Brian decided that life really was too uncertain to keep putting things off and proposed to Justin. Michael and Brian tried to mend their badly fractured friendship and Brian even asked Michael to be his best man. The next thing Michael knew, he and Ben were going to their engagement party only to have them announce the wedding was off and then Justin left to conquer New York.

After that, things just seemed to go downhill faster and faster; like a run-a-way bobsled. Ben and Debbie got all caught up in Gay Rights and were not pleased when Michael refused to put his privacy aside and let the media know every detail of his life as a gay husband, father and business man. He and Ben grew further and further apart. The only bright spot in Michael’s life for the last 8 months had been Hunter and his few visits to see Jenny.

It didn’t help that right after the bombing Michael got the chance of a lifetime to buy the building housing his comic store. He literally scrapped together every single cent he could. He used all his money from Rage (that is what was left after he’d paid his half of the big Victorian house he and Ben had bought together) and he sold most of his collector pieces to get what he needed for the purchase and the many renovations the old building required. He’d gotten no encouragement from Ben or his mother. They both thought he was crazy to even consider the idea; Ben because he couldn’t see a grown man trying to make a living out of selling comic’s and Debbie because she felt he should be spending his money and time supporting his college professor husband while he fought the good fight for gays everywhere.

Neither one of them gave Michael credit for being as smart as he actually was. He’d spent a big sum to hire a contractor Brian recommended who went over the old building from top to bottom and gave Michael a written report on its current condition and the amount of money needed to bring it into tip-top shape. The bottom line was the old building had great bones. It had been built back in the early days when buildings were hand built out of real wood. The foundation was solid as a rock; all the supporting beams were either 10 by 12 or 12 by 12. As the contractor said, ‘you just don’t see workmanship like that anymore.’ The biggest expenses were the plumbing, electricity, heating, A/C and a new roof.

Michael turned the top floor into a luxury apartment similar to Brian’s loft with access to a beautiful roof-top garden. He made the third and fourth floors into apartments; 4 to a floor. He kept the 2nd floor for expansion and storage for his shop and he put in a big freight elevator to allow his tenants to move in furniture and get to the upper floors if they didn’t feel like climbing the stairs. The whole area where Red Cape was located was being discovered by the young and affluent who didn’t want life in the suburbs but rather downtown, loft living. Within two months of completion, all eight of the units were leased and Michael had three offers for the upper floor. Every time he tried to make a decision about leasing the space, he would go visit the premises and invariably he found himself furnishing each room right down to the pictures on the wall. He realized he felt more at home here in these empty rooms than he did in the big house he shared with Ben and Hunter.

He often wondered if his love for his top floor had anything to do with his final break with Ben. He never could decide for sure. All he knew was he was out of the house within a week of their breakup and had moved all his stuff to his new apartment along with his son Hunter who decided he wanted to stay with Michael and not Ben.

Ben was only marginally angry; after all he was so busy with his appearances and interviews and lectures that looking after a teen-ager could have cramped his style somewhat. He was more than agreeable to selling and they unloaded the big house for a healthy profit just before the housing market collapsed. Michael took his considerable share and used it to pay Brian back for the loan he’d given him to completely renovate his store. He’d taken one third of the second floor and turned it into storage and offices for his shop and the other two thirds became an open lounge where his customers could relax and browse to their hearts content. He planned on eventually having after-hours club meetings for young artists to get together and discuss story lines and plots and draw new and better super heroes.

************ END OF FLASHBACK ***************

Michael didn’t have much time to reflect on the last few years. He caught a movement through his large glass window and looked up to see Hurricane Debby heading into land or rather his store. He felt the air get thick and heavy and sure enough, the hair on his arms was rising. His door slammed open and the storm slammed into him.

“What the hell do you mean by walking out on your husband and son and moving your selfish ass down here? This damn hobby of yours is already taking way too much of your time that could be devoted to better things and why the hell did I have to find out from strangers and not you? When were you planning on telling me that you had decided to ruin your life AGAIN?”

“One, I didn’t walk out on Ben and Hunter; Hunter is living with me. Two, this is my place of business not my hobby and three, never because it’s none of your business.”

For a brief moment there was complete silence. Michael thought if you put a red wig on a guppy, a large guppy, you would have a perfect picture of Debbie at that moment.

“You watch your language young man; everything you do is my business.”

“No ma, it’s not. It hasn’t been your business since I moved out of your house and started supporting myself and I might add, contributing to your support also. You’ve lived your life. This is my life and I’m going to live it the way I want, not the way you think it should be. You have meddled and interfered in my affairs for the last time. From now on, you stay out of my business and leave me alone. If I want you to know something, I will tell you.”

“How dare you talk to me like that? I’ve sacrificed all my life for you and I’ve always had nothing but your best interest at heart. Especially since you never seemed to have a clue what was right for you. Running after Brian ever since you were a kid. You let him interfere all the time and I don’t hear you yelling at him.”

“You know ma, you have been beating that same dead horse for years now. Don’t you think you ought to get some new material? In case you haven’t noticed, Brian hasn’t interfered in my life or my relationships in a long long time now. He and I have come to an understanding. He realizes I’m old enough to make my own mistakes. Now how about you getting the same clue he did?”

Debbie walked up to Michael and lifted her hand and started to slap him the way she had for all his life only this time there was a difference. Michael grabbed her wrist before she could finish the action. She had no idea Michael was so strong. He was actually hurting her he was holding her wrist so tightly.

“Let go of me, you’re hurting my wrist.”

Michael loosened his hold but didn’t let go. “OH no, no more. You have slapped me for the last time. I didn’t like it when I was young and I really don’t like it now that I’m grown. You don’t have the right to touch me like that ever again and if you ever do raise your hand to me again I guarantee it will be the last time you touch or see me.”

Debbie could not believe her ears. Her child, her obedient child was talking back to her; actually threatening her. Of course he didn’t mean it. He was just upset over the breakup with Ben. It was up to her to be the adult now and get him to realize his whole future lay with Ben. Ben was smart. He was a college professor. He was gaining a reputation in the gay community and there was some talk of running him for councilman in the next election. Surely even Michael could realize that Ben was going places and his little comic store couldn’t hold a candle to the brilliant future he could have as Ben’s significant other.

“Michael, I know you’re hurting without Ben but it’s not a sure thing. I know Ben loves you enough to forgive you for this little disagreement you two are having. All you have to do is apologize to him and reassure him that your marriage is the most important thing in your life not this dusty little shop.”

Michael looked at his mother in complete astonishment. ‘Dusty Little Shop’. Had she actually looked at his store in the last year?

“Ma, have you even looked at my store lately? This is hardly a ‘dusty little shop’ anymore. In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve expanded to almost twice the original size. Everything in here has been renovated and updated. Red Cape has been written up in the Advocate as an example of one of Pittsburgh’s unique privately owned businesses. I do almost a quarter of a million dollars in business a year and I’m growing.”

Debbie listened to Michael and started to argue with him but forgot what she was going to say as she looked around the store. What the hell? What had happened here? What she remembered as dirty, dusty and cramped was now bright and clean with comfortable chairs and tables scattered around. She saw stairs leading up to an upstairs area lined with glass walls and bright neon banisters. There were display cases of comics and action figures and games everywhere but still placed so there was plenty of room to move and see everything.

“I have no intention in the world of apologizing to Ben and I sure as hell am not hurting. Maybe it’s a little shallow of me but I don’t think I’ve ever been as happy as I am right now. I have my son with me full time and he loves our new place and has his friends over all the time. We are going to Canada next weekend with Brian and the three of us are going to spend a week with our kids and just sight-seeing and enjoying ourselves. I’m making more money than I ever thought possible between the store, my on-line sales, my revenue from my stories, my fees from doing evaluations for private owners and auction houses and that’s not even including the income from my apartments.”

“Wait just a damn minute. What do you mean income from your apartments?”

“You mean Ben didn’t tell you? I thought he shared every detail of our private lives with you. I know I didn’t and yet you always seemed to know everything that was going on in our house.”

“Well of course Ben told me you were pouring money into your business but neither of us could see any good reason for you wasting your resources like that.”

“Boy you two really do have a high opinion of me don’t you? I wasn’t wasting my resources; I was buying this building and renovating it. I own this place. The top floor is our home and we have eight apartments on the next two floors that bring in more money than you could ever imagine. I’m getting ready to open at least one and possibly two new Red Cape’s and Hunter is designing our own web site so we can merchandise on-line. What do you know Ma, when you weren’t looking and without a single bit of help or interference from you, I’ve become a fuckin’ big success. I just received an invitation to join the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce. Actually both Brian and I have been invited and I think we just may do it. It’s a good business move and the prestige of having two openly gay business owners as members will be good for our community. What have you and Ben accomplished lately?”

There was complete silence from Debbie. She didn’t have anything to say. She looked at her son, really looked at him. She saw the slight lines around his eyes but they were hardly noticeable when you also saw the laugh lines around his beautiful mouth. His hair was as glossy black and silky as ever without a hint of grey. He was no longer a little boy. He’d become a man; a strong beautiful, confident man who was looking her right in the eye. There was no anger, no defiance just complete confidence in his own worth. She was about to say something when the door bell jingled and Hunter came breezing into the shop.

“Hi Debbie, long time no see. Hey Dad, can Banko spend the night? I want him to work with me on the web site. He’s dying to see what we’re doing.”

“Of course he can Hunter. Are you going to be here for dinner tonight?”

“Nah, not tonight. We’re going to a pizza party at Dino’s place and then to see a midnight movie so we’ll be in late tonight but we will be in all day tomorrow and most of Sunday if it’s okay with you.”

“You know it’s okay with me. I’ll make sure I load up the fridge so you two don’t starve while you’re slaving away over a hot keyboard.”

“Thanks dad, but take it easy will you. I think Banko wants you to adopt him already and if you keep feeding him, we’ll never get rid of him.”

They both laughed at the idea of Banko with a collar and leash around his neck. Hunter walked over and gave his dad a big hug. It was so funny to see Hunter towering over Michael and yet still so obviously needing a hug from his dad. Hunter waved goodbye to Debbie and headed to the back of the shop.

“Where is he going?”

“We have a back staircase up to the apartment as well as an elevator and a big internal staircase. I wanted to make sure we had several exit points in case of fire. I’m pretty careful when it comes to my kid’s safety.”

“Well, I guess it’s pretty obvious you no longer care about your commitment to your marriage or your husband anymore. Now that you’re a captain of industry.”

“God, you really can’t get your theories straight can you? I’m either a failure with a dusty little cramped shop or a cold-hearted captain of industry. Which is it?”

“I don’t know where you got this sarcastic mouth of yours but I don’t appreciate it one single bit.”

“I got it from you Ma and now you know how I’ve felt for the last 23 years. I haven’t appreciated being put down and told how dumb I am and how I don’t know what’s good for me. I’ve watched you lavish praise on Justin for his drawings for Rage while you were putting me down for writing the stories. I’ve watched you rave about how crazy Brian was about Justin while telling me over and over that I meant nothing to him and he was just keeping me around for laughs. Do you really think Brian Kinney would put up with anything for 23 years if he didn’t want to? Do you see Brian running off to New York because he just can’t live without his Sunshine? No, he’s still right here in Pittsburgh and while he hasn’t been to New York one time to visit Justin, he’s gone with me to Canada every single time we’ve had a chance. We’ve also taken some vacations away from here just to spend time together and get our friendship back on track. I’ve listened to both you and Ben put down my store and my efforts to support myself. I’ve built all this up with no help from either of you but Brian and Hunter and Ted and Emmet have always been here for me and so was Uncle Vic when he was alive. They all were proud of me and my struggle to make a life for myself that had some meaning to me and wasn’t just a dead-end job.

I’ve had to go to outsider’s for the love and support I should have had from my mother and my husband and while it used to make me sad, it’s also made me strong and independent so this is my Independence Day. I will always respect the fact that you gave me life and you struggled to put a roof over my head, food in my belly and clothes on my back. I will continue to support you and care for you but you will never hit me again. You will never come barging into my place of business and start yelling at me like I was fourteen years old. If you do, I will cut you out of my life. Have I made myself clear?”

Again, Michael had rendered his mother speechless. She didn’t know what to do with this quiet, calm supremely confident man looking back at her with his clear, beautiful brown eyes.

“Ma, do you understand that I mean what I say? No screaming, no yelling…that’s your style not mine. I’m through with Ben and it was mutual no matter what you may think. When I find some man I want to spend the rest of my life with, I will do it without any assistance or input from you. If you respect my dignity, you will be part of my life. If you don’t then we’re through right here and right now. So what will it be?”

Debbie couldn’t talk. There was nothing to say. She just nodded. She realized it was her admittance of defeat. Michael had won. He was the adult now and he was setting the rules. She hoped he would be kinder to her than she had been to him.

Michael finally had a moment to take a deep breath. Debbie had just barely gotten to her car before the after school crowd came pouring in. Michael was aware of the fact that she had not driven off but was sitting in her car watching the people coming into his store. Not just young kids but college age, young professionals and older collectors. He was pretty sure she had also noticed the number of folks who left carrying his distinctive glossy black sacks with the bright red capes emblazoned across their surfaces. He smiled contentedly to himself when she finally drove off. He’d done it. He’d finally cut the apron strings once and for all. Who knows? Now that he’s on a roll, he just might go face down Mr. Kinney and tell him it was time to face up to some facts they’d been dancing around for years now. Yeah, maybe it was time to declare Independence Day to everyone!


End file.
